A swanky room overlooking a sunny piazza in Rome costs a lot less this year. So does sipping espresso, nibbling on croissants, and dinning on steak frites in Parisian cafes.

Favorable currency exchange rates are making overseas travel far more affordable for Americans. Depending on the country, hotels, restaurants and shopping may be anywhere from 15% to 50% cheaper now than this time last year.

You can thank sputtering overseas economies for the more tourist-friendly prices. In the ever-changing currency markets, the U.S. dollar is once again in demand.

Of course, it’s welcome news for anyone who is planning an overseas trip. Some people who’ve been unable to afford international travel may finally be able take that dream vacation.

“It definitely has an impact, and yes, it does encourage people who are on the fence,” said Andi McClure-Mysza, co-president of Montrose Travel, a travel agency in Montrose, Calif., near Los Angeles, that books more than $280 million in travel annually.

Customers routinely bring up exchange rates in planning their trips and deciding where to go, she said. Getting a $5,000 vacation for $4,000, when taking into account potential savings, can be a powerful lure. Currency rates don’t affect airline ticket prices, which happen to be relatively high at the moment. But they can mean savings on what visitors spend their money on after arriving.

Keep in mind that package tours don’t necessarily take fluctuations in currencies into account. It depends on the operator and the contracts it cuts with hotel, restaurants and ground transportation suppliers.

Through the first 10 months of 2014, U.S. citizens made 57 million international trips, or 9.6% more than during the same period a year earlier. A buzzing U.S. economy – and those exchange rates – means more growth is likely in 2015.

Here are a few destinations where exchange rates will make your dollars stretch a lot further.

Putin delivered the bad news during a Christmas Day speech, saying that government employees had to work through Christmas to help solve Russia’s growing economic crisis, caused by sinking oil prices and Westerns sanctions. (Christmas is celebrated in Russia on Jan. 7, the traditional date in the Eastern Orthodox Church.)

“The Government and its various structures cannot afford such extensive holidays, at least not this year,” Putin told government ministers in a speech broadcast on state television, CNN reports. “You know what I am talking about.”

Putin seemed to acknowledge that some of the challenges Russia’s economy is facing are self-created. “The difficulties we have come across are not only of an external type,” he said. “They are not only due to some sanctions or limitations caused by the global market situation—they are also the result of our own shortcomings that have piled up over the years.”

Such articles are usually accompanied by clucking quotes on how foolish we are to think about work away from work; Roger Dow of the U.S. Travel Association said in a statement when his organization’s report came out that, “We need to change our thinking. All work and no play is not going to get you ahead — it’s only going to get you more stress.”

But I’m not so sure that’s true. There are good reasons to work over the holidays that have nothing to do with insecurity. To be sure, to avoid stress, you have to want to work, and not everyone does. The good news there, though, is that you can work without driving your family or co-workers who’d like to unplug nuts. You just have to be strategic about it.

The first problem with the don’t-work-over-the-holidays invective is that it assumes a certain world view: work is bad; other things are good.

But what if you really enjoy what you do for a living?

Work is often a source of joy and personal fulfillment, and in any case, it’s quite possible to enjoy mulling over work challenges as much as you’d enjoy watching a football game or holiday movie. Given that few people spend every waking hour of a typical work week working, balance doesn’t require spending every waking hour not working over the holidays. Taking some time away from the normal routines can also give you the space to think about important-but-not-urgent work matters that often get shortchanged. Such contemplation is technically work, but it can feel fun, too.

That said, if you’re going to work, there are a few ways to do it best.

1. Concentrate it. Aiming to do a solid block of 2-3 hours every other day or so is better than letting email and calls bleed all over the calendar in a way that will annoy your clan. The holidays often feature blocks of downtime that can be repurposed without missing much. Maybe your teenagers are using their days off to sleep in, and won’t even notice that you got up at your normal time. If your spouse has a get-together planned with friends, that’s a great time to do your own thing too. If your own thing happens to be work, rather than decorating a gingerbread house, that’s no one’s business but yours.

2. Aim to focus on the big picture stuff. Sure, it’s tempting to use the relative quiet of the holidays to hack through your email backlog. But don’t just do that. Think about who you’d like to reach out to, how to plan your staff’s career development, and what you’d like to say you’ve done by the end of 2015. Soon, you’ll be back in the daily rush, and carving out time to think about these things will be much harder.

3. Finally, don’t interrupt other people’s vacations. Just because you want to work over the holidays doesn’t mean the people who work for you want to. Once you send an email, it’s hard to control how others will react. You can put NOT URGENT in the subject line all you want, but if you’ve got competitive, driven employees, they won’t think you mean it. So save emails as drafts and hold onto anything else you want feedback on. You can send it all out once you’re back at the office. Your staff, having taken vacations the way they want to, will hopefully feel refreshed enough to tackle it.

Looking for a villa or private island retreat? You’re in luck.

The exclusive world of luxury vacation rentals just keeps getting bigger.

Since the launch of its stand-alone site Luxury Rentals from HomeAway in Oct. 2013, HomeAway has become the industry leader in rentals of castles, villas, and estates. In one year its luxury portfolio has grown from 800 properties to more than 4,500 high-end listings in 40 countries. But those pricey digs only comprise less than one percent of HomeAway’s vast inventory of more than 1 million active vacation rentals. To put it in perspective: HomeAway’s nearest competitor TripAdvisor TRIP lags behind with 630,000 listings.

HomeAway AWAY had $346.5 million in revenue in 2013. Though it doesn’t break out segmented sales figures, the company projects income this year will be $450 million, a 30% increase, as vacationers are opting for a home away from home instead of hotel stays. And a recent report from MMGY Global reveals that 20% of wealthy travelers say they are planning to take even more vacations than they did last year. According to the report, “travelers who earn $250,000 or more annually took an average of 6.2 leisure trips in 2013.”

Luxury Rentals is just one of dozens of rental sites in a highly competitive niche market that HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples says is steadily growing. And the reason more wealthy people are renting out their second homes? They’re paying down mortgages during a slow recovery. “The biggest driver is that far more rentals are available now. We went through this cycle where there was a tremendous amount of overbuilding in vacation markets around the world and then the economy took a dive. People built big grand houses that are very expensive to maintain. Now you can go online and rent a six bedroom villa on a beach or on an island somewhere, and at a price that’s not that wacky considering what you get,” Sharples told Fortune.

HomeAway has been on an acquisition tear since it was founded in 2005, buying 21 companies, most of them outside of the U.S as it expands its global reach. Its portfolio of 14 brands include VRBO and VacationRentals.com as well as international versions of HomeAway.com. Earlier this year the company acquired Glad to Have You, a tech startup that created a mobile app for HomeAway users, which Sharples says puts everything renters need right into their pockets. “It shows you how the stereo systems works, saves the lock codes for the house, gives you local restaurant recommendations, and more.”

For last year’s launch into luxury, HomeAway sought the expertise of a third party to hand pick the properties that would truly qualify as “exceptional.” In the past, Sharples says, any homeowner who wanted to list a rental property as luxury could do so by checking a box. “One person’s idea of luxury could be very different from everyone else,” he admits.

To better curate properties, HomeAway partnered with the experts at travel newsletter Andrew Harper to evaluate listings, which must meet certain criteria on price, location, and amenities to qualify as luxury. For anyone willing to plop down $57,000 per night for the use of Musha Cay, it’s helpful to know what you’re getting.

But don’t expect any discounts. The average daily rate for luxury rentals on HomeAway is $1,800, while non-luxury rates average $225 per night. Just because there’s an abundance of properties on the market doesn’t mean homeowners are cutting prices anytime soon.

Workaholics who skip vacation are forfeiting $52.4 billion annually

Employees who fail to use up all their vacation days forfeit $52.4 billion annually in pay and benefits, according to a new study.

The findings paint a picture of workers who routinely forgo vast amounts of paid-time off in hopes of advancing their careers. But in reality, the sacrifice generally doesn’t pay off, the study found.

The report, by the global advisory firm Oxford Economics for the U.S. Travel Association, said that employees fail to take 169 million days of paid time off annually. As a reward, they end up heavily stressed and tired.

“Americans are taking the value of their time for granted,” Adam Sacks, founder and president of Oxford Economics’ Tourism Economics division, said in a statement. “By passing on vacation days and working instead, U.S. employees are serving as volunteers for their companies.”

And apparently U.S. workers are taking less time off in recent years. In 2000, workers took off an average of 20 days compared with just 16 last year.

The study, which is based on a poll of 1,300 workers, also said that, contrary to what many people believe, leaving vacation days on the table doesn’t translate into a raise or bonus. In many cases, their performance suffers.

“In fact, employees who left 11-15 days unused are less likely (by 6.5%) to receive a raise or bonus than those who used all of their vacation days,” according to the study. There’s also increased stress and lower work performance as a result.

“If this trend continues, the vacations of our childhoods could be a thing of the past—completely unknown by the next generation,” Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, in a statement. “That would be a true loss for our families and our country.”

Of course, Dow’s association isn’t exactly a disinterested party. The more vacation people take, the happier its travel industry members are.

Fun in the sun? Not for many small business owners

Small business owners simply aren’t taking vacation in 2014, at least according to one study. In fact, almost half of the people polled—200 in all, from a variety of industries—said they’re not planning to go on one this year.

The study, released Wednesday and conducted by the lender OnDeck, revealed that small business owners are too time-strapped to take any vacation at all, let alone a proper one. Of the small business owners who do take time off, the majority—61%—grab just five days off per year. That’s half of what the average U.S. employee takes each year, according to the study.

Adding insult to injury, when a small business owner actually takes a vacation, it’s hard for them to completely detach from day-to-day operations. According to the study, 67% of owners “check in with work at least once per day.” Just 15% completely disconnect.

Melinda Emerson, a small business owner who has lectured about the subject at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and around the U.S., said that entrepreneurs and small business owners have a tendency to be workaholics who are on the job “14 to 16 hours a day, six to seven days a week.” It can be hard to detach, she added.

The bigger the business, the better the chance that an owner will take a vacation. Sixty-three percent of owners of companies between six and 10 employees take one, but only 42% of people who are self-employed share the habit, according to the study.

“We’ve always known that small businesses don’t have the same resources that big businesses do, a major gap that makes small business owners’ time so valuable,” said Andrea Gellert, OnDeck’s senior vice president of marketing.

She added that quality vacations are hard to come by since owners “have to wear many hats” since they lack access to the resources that big businesses enjoy. “Any free time is often spent on necessary but secondary work like taxes, healthcare, searching for financing,” she said.

Though the statistics aren’t surprising, Emerson noted that there is a distinct lack of empirical data about small business owners and vacation. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics wasn’t able to provide any additional figures on small business owners taking vacation.) But anecdotal evidence reveals that small business owners often “haven’t built processes” to leave their job, for even just a day, to rejuvenate. Small businesses tend to have a “cult of personalities around” the owners, she said, meaning clients “will only talk to them.” And too often, small business owners fail to empower their employees to run the business in their absence, she said.

“It’s a good thing to give their mind an opportunity to rest,” Emerson said. “Vacation is important.” Gellert agreed. “[Owners must] try and find time to get a way—even if it’s just for a few days. It can actually be a good time to reflect and reset business strategy.”

Luxury travel just got a little bit cheaper

Luxury travel is going downstream. Exclusive Resorts, a high-end travel company owned by Steve Case, is launching Portico, a new private club that lets members access luxury vacation properties at more moderate prices than they otherwise could.

With Exclusive Resorts’ existing service, members pay a one-time membership fee of $170,000, and another $1,045 per day for their travel. Portico, which officially launched to the public today, has a similar concept but it has no set rate per day. Portico members pay an initiation fee of $10,000, plus an annual fee of $2,500. In exchange, they have access to below-market prices for vacation homes around the globe, from Nantucket to Bora Bora. Most properties cost between $500 to $3,000 a night and come with a personalized service like you might find at a five-star hotel.

The luxury travel industry has struggled along with the rest of the U.S. economy during recent years. The average daily room rate at luxury hotels rose to $252.15 in the first eight months of 2011, according to the hospitality research firm STR Global. That’s up from $237.06 during the same period in 2010, but down from $285.47 in 2008.

Philippe Bourguignon, CEO of Exclusive Resorts and the former CEO of Club Med, says high-end travel is picking up again. The company launched Portico with the idea that people still want to have a luxurious vacation, but they want to pay less for it. He spoke to Fortune about the travel industry in today’s economy and the changing needs of vacationers.

How was the idea for this club created?

When I joined the company six months ago, I obviously assessed everything. I looked to see how after this period of 2008 to 2010 we could grow as a company. The idea for Portico was already there, so I decided the idea was a very good one and the time to launch it was now.

What was it about this concept that you liked?

This is not about growing an existing market — this is creating a new market. Today, if you want to go on a luxury vacation, you have basically two choices. You can go to a hotel and you know what you will get. Most hotel brands have a wide selection of destinations, but they basically all offer the same service. Your other choice is renting a vacation home, where you obviously have more space for yourself and your family, but you don’t have the service that you would find at a hotel. You might have a housekeeper, you might not. It’s not predictable and consistent. We strongly believe there is a market in the middle where so many people want to have that consistent and more predictable experience with better service. Portico gives you hotel experience in a big nice luxury villa.

With the U.S. economy still undergoing a slow recovery, what is the demand like right now in the luxury hospitality industry?

The demand is still high, but the trends in luxury destinations have changed quite a bit over the last two to three years. People today are more conscious about their time. With Portico, it’s more convenient to make a selection and to book a vacation. I’ve also noticed that people today want to decide what is good for them, instead of the hotel deciding. We do not impose things. If you’re in a Portico villa, you decide your own schedule — even when you want the housekeeper to come by. You organize your vacation the way you want it to be.

When you look back at your experience of being Chairman and CEO of Club Med, what do you take away from it?

When the world changes around you, you basically have two ways to react. One is to resist change and the other one is to embrace change, even if it’s challenging. When I joined Club Med in 1997, after three years with a fresh team we did a remarkable job in converting the company, which had been losing money for eight years. After putting the company back together financially, the whole idea was to really evolve Club Med. Unfortunately September 11th happened and Club Med lost about half of its business for about three to four months. The goal was to change the company but it never happened. Club Med hardly makes money now. You must embrace change to be successful.

On the road again…

To all the concerned people who wrote to inquire about my whereabouts, I am *so* flattered. Suffice it to say that I was reveling in rest, right up until the moment I started planning my return to work and realized that I’d be reporting stories in four different cities over four days this week. Two 7 a.m. departures, two two-hour layovers, one midnight arrival, four flights up or down the majority of the East Coast. And I’ve barely gotten started. So I hope you’ll forgive my delinquency and understand when I say that these old bones just aren’t what they used to be. (Remember when it was cool — and easy! — to stay up till 7? :o)

This self-flagellating breakneck return to work — combined with the already way too work-heavy “break” — did make me reflect, though. Just when you think you can be proud of yourself for finally taking a little time off, you realize that you’ve gone so long without a break that you end up spending the first half of your vacation just recovering, never mind actually having fun.

We’ve all seen stats like these, from a Harris/Expedia survey earlier this year: “Americans are likely to give back more than 574 million vacation days in 2006, with each employed U.S. adult age 18 and older anticipated to leave an average of four vacation days on the table.” And the U.S. lags behind most peer nations when it comes to average number of paid vacation days — 14 for us, versus 17 for Australia, 24 for Great Britain, and 39 for France, among others.

So we have a problem. But what about the fact that even when you try to be good and take your days off, you still end up working? No matter how far you go or how much you promise to disconnect, that never really seems to happen, does it? I’d bet I probably answered just as many – if not more – work e-mails during my vacation than I usually manage when I’m in the office. Somehow, that doesn’t seem all that restful.

But working on vacation is more and more the norm. In the days leading up to leaving, I would tell people trying to schedule meetings or otherwise ask me for “work” that I was going to be out, and their response was invariably, “Well, you’ll be checking e-mail, right?” or, “I’ll just call you on your cell.” It’s not like I was leaving for a month, and of course, I didn’t want them to call me, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t entertain it.

That’s just people’s expectation. And not meeting it, especially when even the higher-ups can be seen feverishly BlackBerrying from their beach bungalows, isn’t always an option. It’s so ingrained for me that while I was out, if I wasn’t actively “relaxing” or working, I found myself creating work. Were there some freelance projects I should be thinking about? What about that proposal I’ve been neglecting? Or those recent articles I’d been meaning to read? What is wrong with me?!

Add to that messages like this one — “I’m so proud of you for actually getting out of the office,” as though it were Escape from Alcatraz — from a very sweet publicist, and I have a serious case of vacationer’s guilt. But that aside, it is worth it to escape if you can. If only for the sake of your work (altruism, people). As an overworked friend of mine put it recently, “My brain has given up.” And at least in my experience, you can’t be all that productive, at least not in a meaningful way, sans cerebrum. Thoughts? Feelings? Rants?

Gone fishin’

Finally taking some time off, and figured I should let the two or three of you know who might actually be concerned that I haven’t given up the ghost ;o). Back next week, and in the meantime, hope the Fourth was amazing!